Browns Cafe in Oxford

Whilst I was visiting the famous indoor market in Oxford, I was looking for a simple cafe, for my lunch. I came across Brown's Cafe, which appeared to tick my boxes. I approached the counter and asked the girl for a cup of tea. She said that I should take a menu and sit at a table. I was gasping for a cuppa, so I went back to the counter to request my tea, whilst I read the menu to decide what to have. A foreign middle aged lady, rudely interjected, by abruptly stating that I "needed to order at the counter". That is EXACTLY what I was trying to do, when I was told to sit down at a table ! There're ways to speak to customers, but this lady hasn't yet mastered the art of British customer service, unfortunately. After a short wait, my jacket potato arrived. It looked very sorry for itself and fairlawn, just sitting in the middle of a plate, with ZERO effort from the "chef" ! A spinkle of cress or even a garnish of a salad leaf, might have shown some genuine effort to appease the customer, but no; it's like they could care at all. The "microwave chef" was totally untrained, or else he would have realised that his microwave oven was either turned up too high or he left it in there for too long. I measured it at 132 c !! My mouth was burnt and after mashing it up to unlessh the nuclear heat, it still took 6 minutes to become edible. The steam was good for a skin facial ! I wish they would use an oven. The jacket potato has a silly SOFT skin, instead of the crispy jacket, that everyone loves in The UK. The bolognese filling was mass produced TASTELESS nonsense. No flavour or herbs whatsoever. Utterly hopeless. How can they get something so simple, so wrong ? Oh and by the way, a "please" and "thank you" would be appreciated !

We called in here for coffee, then returned for lunch and had a lovely time. Friendly staff, delicious food. Traditional British breakfast menu and some Portuguese meals too. I loved the bacalhau fish cakes that I had for lunch. The biscoff cheesecake was delicious and they also serve pastel de nata cakes. Yum 😋 we look forward to returning next time we visit Oxford.

Had a fantastic time in Browns. Wonderful food great service particularly our waiter Eder who was attentive, friendly and helpful. Would thoroughly recommend a trip to Browns.

Best traditional English cafe in Oxford, with a little Portuguese twist. They sell not just traditional English meals, also lots of desserts choices. Homemade scones are so tasty. Family runs cafe. Staffs are very friendly and helpful. They provides the best service you imagine. Food are delicious yet the price is more than reasonable.

First day of my trip to England and Oxford and everyone is recommending Browns for brunch. So off I trot to Browns Brasserie and think that I should just ditch my friends. Overpriced, full of people who I dislike on first sight and food resembling what people think passes for fashionable or maybe they were there to be seen. Well, they were seen by me. Quick check with friends before I binned them and it turns out that they meant Browns Cafe, so rather than top myself in embarrassment then I went there the next day. Absolutely lovely. Great vegetarian breakfast and I indulged myself by ordering the apple pie with custard. Heaven.

It’s been here forever and is a beloved spot amongst students and locals alike. Fantastic value. Despite the presence of a modern coffee machine, it’s still very much a builders’ tea kind of venue.

Came here for Lunch as we thought it was a cute little spot. Only to figure out staff were rude and miserable. Felt like I was a child the way we were spoken too. Food was below average, nothing special about it, paid £2.60 for maybe 6/7 chips that were mostly undercooked and hard. Daughters burger was like a hockey puck, I could’ve used it in a game. Only thing that was decent was the tea. Definitely will not be recommending or going back when I go to Oxford again.

Endroit bruyant. Les uns sur les autres Plats infects. Pris un breakfast avec 1 oeuf, deux saucisses, pain grillé plein d'huile, une petite tomate coupée en deux, deux tranches de bacons trop salées trop cuites. Mes amis plats différents mais horribles et sans saveur. A éviter ! Prix pour les 3 plats 50 £

Traditional cafe. Good value for central Oxford. Large menu of breakfast and lunch dishes as well as cakes

We visited twice during our trip to Oxford, once for cream tea and once for breakfast. The food is delicious, very reasonably priced and the staff very friendly. Would definitely recommend.

Really great value for breakfast, centrally located and excellent service. The choice is fantastic and plenty of seating available

A nice selection of different lunch options - sandwiches, baguettes, jacket potatoes and a range of hot options. My friend opted for the Portuguese cod fishcakes and I had a tuna jacket. Both delicious!

My meals here were very excellent. I had fish and chips and spaghetti Bolognese and all of them were very delicious.

Location essenziale all'interno del mercato coperto di Oxford, scelta di specialità locali molto interessante. Buona cucina, ottime le pie locali ma in generale tutto buono, dal bacon in avanti. Prezzi nella media, porzioni generose.

Hier fühlt man sich wenig willkommen, das Essen ist zwar relativ günstig, aber noch viel schlechter als man vom Erscheinungsbild erwartet

Amazing proper cup of builders tea & loaded breakfast rolls at fantastic prices! So good we went for a second morning. Proper pastel de Natas a major bonus!

I visited here with my friend for the first time. It was a lovely little find. We sat outside the cafe in the market area and loved watching people walk past. I didn’t even know the market place existed. The menu consists of most breakfast...

I manage a team of 14 staff and every month, we all head out together for a "Payday Breakfast". We've tried a number of venues but for the last year or so, we've headed to Brown's Cafe. After our most recent visit, we will not...

We needed a quick lunch and this was perfect: there’s only a small menu but plenty of good things on there. Service was friendly and quick. The chips were excellent. Tea was incredibly strong, but good

I've been a regular here for over 20 years , visiting 3 or more times a week . The food is freshly cooked from local ingredients, fast, the service is absolutely brilliant - Umberto, Cat, Alice and all the team are all friendly, polite, helpful...

Friendly service, clean and relatively cheap but the food was mediocre. Probably the worst sausages I’ve eaten. Bacon was substandard as well.

Went there for a coffee, we paid for our 2 drinks sat down as they said they would bring them over , 20 minutes later no drinks, went to ask where they were and they denied we had even paid , had to get our...

We called in by chance after avoiding a couple of rip off cafes. Our food was excellent, we didn’t have to wait long and the service was friendly and helpful, just right, remember it’s a cafe!

Had heard that this place was called the best cafe in Oxford but I cannot see why. Very dirty, average sweets and very restricted service that cannot accomodate the amount of people visiting.

Smallest cup of coffee I've ever had (£2.90!!!) Tea was nice. Beans on toast ok but toast over done. Double egg on toast was only 1 piece of toast which was a surprise for the price. Very expensive for a cafe in a market. However,...

2 families of 4 passing through, perhaps average for the type of eatery. Service OK, food OK probably won’t visit again

Got a takeaway of an iced coffee from Brown's and loved it really good coffee with just the right amount of ice. Was a little weird in a cup which you would use for hot coffee but loved the colour of the cup! Now that...

Simple and unpretentious home cooking; not fancy but solid comfort food. Very friendly staff and reasonable prices. Worth a visit.

Ottimo pesce con patatine, ottimo espresso, camerieri gentili, pulizia, cosa potevo volere di più? Fish and chips 5 ⭐️, espresso...

They filmed some of Endeavour here, and the sign on the wall is the 1960s pricing used in that filming. I had a mug of tea, which was simply a good old fashioned mug of tea, which was £2, and it was a nice place...

Delicious food and fabulous service by Ilyas. The location is near to my son’s college so is very convenient for both him and us as parents to visit for grey food and a catch up on a friendly professional environment. We will be back!Thank you Mrs Myrie

First time visiting Browns cafe and the first thing that hit me was the lovely old fashioned sign and menu. A absolute gem! The gentleman at the front was lovely and made us feel very welcome. I ordered bacon and sausage baguette. The bread was crisp and buttered, the sausage delicious and bacon cooked to perfection. There's no hiding when it comes to simplicity, and these guys let quality local ingredients sing. Yummy! I will definitely visit again when I'm back in Oxford 10/10

The only place I could find selling bacon baps for breakfast and it was excellent. Very friendly and cooked to order. Loads if seating worth searching out.

Went here for breakfast. Good food for a good price, just let down slightly by the budget sausages, everything else good. People friendly & a nice setting & location

Great place for a quick, basic lunch - tea/coffee plus sandwiches served by friendly and helpful staff, and decently priced.It seems to be a local institution, I certainly loved the retro style especially the old menu in pre-decimal prices - I half expected Endeavour to walk in!

Great food at very reasonable prices. Great to see this cafe is still in operation in the lovely old covered market. Will definitely come again and certainly recommend.

Tried cakes as takeaway, authentically Portuguese. Custard tarts were good but better was the bolo de xadrez, a marbled cake with dark choc crust. Best was the bolo de coco. The coconut was rich and fresh. Pleasant service and reasonable pricing. They were very busy at lunch time.

Visited 29/7/2021 and I got to say there's no need to go back. My husbands cheeseburger was complitely tasteless and I am vegetarian and there wasn't a single thing for me in the menu to have so I ordered fish & chips with peas. Food was straight from Tescos freezer -> deep fryer -> on my plate. I wouldn't call it cheap either after spending £18 on these. Service was lovely though :)

Hubby and I wanted a hearty breakfast before coming home on the train. Rather than opting for a Wetherspoons… we wondered into the market to see if anything was open. We wondered in and were immediately greeted by very friendly staff. We loved the atmosphere and the boast that it had been there since 1926. We opted for a mayday breakfast for hubby and a veggie breakfast for me with extra hash browns and two coffees. The food and drink was served swiftly… we both decided that the coffee was really good. Nice and strong to wake us up. Both breakfasts were cooked perfectly and fresh off the griddle. Great price as well. Would defo recommend and we intend to go back for coffee and cake

Not fancy but GREAT Portuguese pastries and English fry up! Went back for more than one visit, excellent service even when they were really busy, reasonable prices and AMAZING custard donuts. If you need breakfast or snack to recharge during sight-seeing, stop by Brown's!

Tasty food, with Portuguese and British tastes! Kids loved the custard tarts and the rice cake. Delta café was a must. We felt safe and welcome in the Café! Thank you!

This place is an Oxford tradition. It's a must visit place if you're in Oxford. Service was warm, friendly, helpful and very quick. The menu is imaginative and generous, with plenty of scope for non-meat eaters. Food was delicious and excellent value. There is simply nothing wrong with Browns Cafe at all. If only all market cafes were like this!

Un alevín muy decente. Buena cantidad de frijoles, buen tocino sabroso, café muy potente y una agradable sensación de café. El personal era muy servicial y no costó demasiado. Había sólo esa vibra de cuchara grasienta y crujiente en Brown's, de la que soy un fanático de los insectos. El menú de antaño en la pared trasera es maravilloso en particular. Solo un pequeño problema: si bien uno de mis huevos fritos estaba delicioso y líquido, el otro un poco duro, pero puedo vivir con eso, ya que le dio un poco de variedad. Con todo, este sería mi café de elección en el centro de la ciudad de Oxford para freír. Gracias chicos ?

We just wanted a simple lunch - sandwich, tea and a Coke. That's what we got. A round of white bread with cheese & tomato or tuna mayonnaise. Not messed around, pure and simple honest grub.

We have been for lunch several times and the quality of food, service, prices and welcome are outstanding. I would cannot recommend this café highly enough.

Kind service with nice food at the charming Covered Market. A good place to enjoy British cuisine. Decent prices.

Visitar Oxford y primer día de merecido descanso para ambos después de nuestro trabajo con COVID. Pensamos en darnos un capricho con el desayuno caliente y Google creó Browns.Excelente ambiente no decepcionado y bien gestionado con distanciamiento social. Obviamente, uno de los favoritos entre los clientes habituales.Comida y servicio al cliente de gran calidad. Definitivamente recomiendo tomarse el tiempo para caminar por la calle principal y encontrar esta joya.

Mi hijo y yo vinimos aquí la semana pasada, ¡y nos alegramos de haberlo hecho! Comida sencilla y recién preparada: tenía una enorme baguette de salchicha y tocino y yo disfruté de una generosa porción de frijoles y tostadas. No hay nada lujoso en este lugar, pero es genial encontrar buenos lugares para comer en medio de una ciudad, sin tener que recurrir a cadenas de tiendas. Definitivamente vendríamos de nuevo y queríamos decir lo amable y acogedor que fue el personal. ¡Gracias! !

Very quiet when we were there due to Covid but we sat at the high table at the window which was open to the street and watched the world go by with a glass of Champagne. Beautiful interior and great service.

¡Ha pasado mucho tiempo desde que pude "cenar" en este excelente café! Desde el brote de coronavirus, he estado esperando durante mucho tiempo su reapertura y valió la pena la espera. El personal realmente ha hecho un buen trabajo para reorganizar las instalaciones para que sean amistosos 'socialmente distantes' y son tan educados como siempre. Algunas cosas han cambiado, como que te lleven el pedido en la mesa, ¡pero la comida esencial es tan sabrosa y con una buena relación calidad-precio como siempre! Hay menos mesas en el café, pero todavía hay un buen ambiente dentro. Si alguna vez estás en el mercado, échales un vistazo y te sorprenderás gratamente.

El desayuno completo a las 6. 30 es una delicia para aquellos que anhelan la comida tradicional inglesa. Se sirvió rápidamente un plato de 2 salchichas, 2 tocino, huevo, frijoles y tostadas, y fue una buena relación calidad-precio. Hubo algunos turistas comiendo al mismo tiempo, y no estoy seguro de cuál habría sido su punto de vista de un desayuno inglés "típico", pero para alguien que se crió con esta combinación fue un verdadero placer.

Found this restaurant on a day trip. Ordered our lunch. Good choice of steak and kidney pie, beans and chips chicken burger. very hot and well cooked. service was quick. Reasonable prices, service was prompt. Staff were friendly.busy place. Will visit again

I have visited Browns many times over the years, having always enjoyed their traditional English breakfast - a hearty, greasy, unpretentious plate of pure indulgence. However, although the breakfast still has its charms, the service and the rest of the menu now leave a lot to be desired. When ordering the breakfast, I often ask to have baked beans separately as otherwise the chef drowns the whole meal in them. The last few times I have requested this, the staff have reacted as if I have asked them to perform a kidney transplant on me. There has been exasperated gasps, eye rolls, groaning and one member telling me that 'only because it isn't busy, but usually no', in response to this incredibly minor request.Furthermore, aside from the breakfast, the rest of the menu is embarrassingly crude and outdated by cafe standards today. Versions of classic dishes such as sausage & mash and pie & chips are to the standard of an Iceland microwave meal, with attempts at continental classics such as Spaghetti Bolognese being equally underwhelming. On your visit you are bound to encounter tourists who, in search of something rustic and authentic, are left bemused and disappointed with what they're served; this is a pity as it gives more weight to the stereotype that English food is, as they perhaps expected, a load of uninspired rubbish.

None of your metropolitan liberal elite smashed avocado, or eggs florentine here. One bacon rasher, sausage, fried egg and beans with toast. £4.95. No messing.

Our first visit to Oxford and we decided to try here for breakfast. We arrived before the main covered market traders had opened for the day.It's a lovely cafe, with friendly staff. We placed our order at the front and chose a table at the back by the window. We settled on a large breakfast and a mini version, with two mugs of tea. The portion size and quality was excellent and good value for money (approximately £16). We wanted to go back at lunchtime but it was full (and queuing) so went elsewhere but I would definitely drop in again if in Oxford.

Escondido en el famoso mercado cubierto, Browns Caf tiene un ambiente de ciudad costera. Extravagante de diferentes maneras, el café tiene algunas instalaciones para sentarse y una decoración encantadora. Desde bollos hasta otros pasteles y todas las bebidas calientes tradicionales, todos seguramente encontrarán lo que quieren. El lado positivo son los diferentes tamaños de bebidas, ya que puede elegir fácilmente entre tazas, tazas o ollas.

It was bitterly cold outside so we took refuge in the covered market and popped in to Browns for a coffee and a warm up. After looking at the menu we decided to stay for lunch as we were both tempted by the cottage pie. It was absolutely delicious.I like this sort of place - unpretentious and not trying to be anything other than a decent cafe. And they serve filter coffee in a mug too. Friendly, good value and just the job on a cold winters day.

This I a great cafe serving freshly made food with a Greek influence. The staff are so warm and welcoming and the standard of cleanliness is high.

Freundliches Personal, frisch zubereitete Speisen zu absolut fairen Preisen. Das Café befindet sich im Covered Market. Sonderwünsche beim Sandwich wurde ohne zu zögern erfüllt. Top Leistung

My first visit to this famous cafe in Oxford 's Covered Market. It consisted of 2 sausages, 2 bacon, fried egg, fried bread and beans, tea was extra.The food was well cooked, and was served on a small plate.The cost including the tea was £7.70, which I feel is expensive for what is a small breakfast.For that money, I would have expected to have received a lot more including mushrooms, hash browns and tomatoes.The staff were friendly enough, but can only rate the experiencevascaverage

Al mercato coperto di Oxford, specialmente se tutti gli altri ristoranti sono pieni.

Good breakfast here. Coffee gets full marks as do the staff and food. Would visit again. Reasonable prices & fast service

Came across this cafe by accident. Very popular as it was quite full but we did manage to get a table. We had sandwiches and mugs of tea. The sandwiches were well filled and freshly made and the tea refreshing. Service was very quick

A super ‘greasy spoon’ style cafe - friendly, quick and well priced well done food! And they serve Portuguese Delta coffee - without question the best coffee in the world! What’s not to like!!!

A toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwich, a toasted BLT, tea and a Coke Zero all for just over £10 - served in the cafe (less for takeaway). Great if all you want is something light - and much better from similar we have had elsewhere.

good good good staff a city that got a lot to have this is one that ofen gets missed in the coverd market off hight street

This is an unpretentious, little cafe in the middle of the covered market in Oxford and it is BRILLIANT! We had the best tasting, freshly cooked bacon butties and glass of coke. Cheap and cheerful and absolutely superb! Would recommend every day of the week.

Love coming on Fridays for a drink with friends ., makes a great start to the weekend and have been coming regularly since you had the female jazz pianist ., came last Friday and the young man was good too..

Entré aquí para tomar una bebida fría mientras estaba en Oxford.

Highly recommend for a light lunch. quaint and old fashioned feel and classic menu. Friendly staff too

Se puede encontrar regularmente aquí desayunando en el Primero de Mayo, o un almuerzo. La comida es buena y el servicio es bueno. Es una cuchara grasienta tradicional.

If you want to try a lasagne with that real home made touch come here. For a very reasonable price, you get an excellent portion of lasagne - you will not taste better anywahere else!

They do a full hot food menu in this market café but we came for tea and cake, so mugs of breakfast tea and Portuguese cakes. The quality was very good.

En visitant Oxford nous cherchions un endroit sympa où manger pour pas trop cher et nous sommes tombés sur ce café. Le personnel est très accueillant et les plats copieux et excellant, c'est simple mais efficace ! Je recommande vivement !

Caminé aquí un lunes por la mañana, es un café apropiado. Tomé el desayuno del Primero de Mayo, todo está acompañado de pan frito y champiñones y frijoles negros. El pan frito estaba delicioso, se derrite en la boca y termina con una buena taza de té excelente.

Found this cafe in the Covered Market just when my feet were telling me to rest after a morning traipsing around the shopping centres with wife and daughter. Displayed outside, the good menu and very economical pricing is what hit the eye immediately. Fortunately at 10 minutes to noon on a Tuesday it was easy to get seated ( I think the cafe seats about 36). Menu got from the counter which is where you order the food. Given a receipt number which is called by the waitress when the food is ready (not a long wait) but beware that waitress has a voice like a foghorn - therefore no excuse for not acknowledging her call! 3 meals and drinks for £23. Food on the large side of adequate portions, well cooked and hot. Obviously a popular cafe and deservedly so.

Good place to have brunch with the family. My husband ordered the May Day Breakfast. I had mini English Breakfast and Fish & Chips for my daughter. It’s a nice little cafe with friendly staff.

Salimos en familia y, como siempre en Brown's, Oxford, la bienvenida fue excelente, la comida excelente y el servicio muy bueno. Además, nuestra nieta de 8 años tenía una pequeña ampolla en su dedo al tocar el plato caliente y fue tratada con agua fría y una almohadilla por el encantador barman y tenía un HERMOSO tulipán hecho por uno de los camareros de un camarero. ¡servilleta de papel! ! ! ¡Está emocionada con esto y lo ha puesto en un florero en su habitación! Mi esposo y yo AMAMOS ir a Brown's, ¡pero hoy fue una ocasión particularmente maravillosa!

Located in the fun, old, covered market area this cafe is busy, friendly, and cozy, serving basic British fare. We waited for a table to open up and then traded it for a couple seats at the side counter to help out a foursome. A friendly waitstaff explained the menu and directed us to order our food from the counter and sit back down to wait for it to be delivered. The patrons were a mix of hungry students, older academic types, and a few tourists. I had the perfectly cooked potato jacket with cheese and mushrooms served with baked beans and a small salad. My wife had cottage pie which she devoured and exclaimed how crispy the crust was. The hot food was perfect for a rainy day and it was a nice touch to add a crispy salad. After eating, remember to wander around the covered market and look at the shops and other offerings.

Un vero greasy spoon senza fronzoli all'interno del mercato coperto di Oxford. Il cibo esposto può apparire "rude" ma è questo il senso della tradizione inglese. Non indugiate e ordinate la full breakfast, lasciando perdere, almeno all'estero, l'abitudine a cappuccino e brioche. Scoprirete cose nuove.

This is a proper ‘greasy spoon’! If you like really good grub, this is not going to disappoint. We had bacon and sausage sandwiches and they were really juicy and delicious. The bread was fresh and really soft - it was a perfect sandwich!

Hier kom je voor een traditioneel ontbijt of lunch. Het zaakje is niet groot, maar als je een plekje ziet, plaatsnemen en genieten!

very friendly staff, quick service, can't fault it, good choice on menu, not rushed and if you get a window seat you can watch the world go by

We happened to be visiting the Covered Market and as it was lunchtime, we decided to try out the Brown's Cafe as the food pictures outside were enticing

Good basic food. Mainly English but with Portuguese touches, pastis de nata bacalhao fish cakes. Good value. Nice people running it.

fish chips salad and bread and butter. so well made. good portions, everything fresh and reasonably priced. cant fault the service or the food. very traditional goood honest food.

Great full English breakfast. The fried bread is a must if you had drinks the night before. My wife and I had espresso and tea which both were on point. Staff was amazing and very helpful with out infant.

Browns is probably the only traditional cafe left surviving in the Oxford city centre . Food is allays simple but excellent. Of course it’s fairly priced too! Staff are always friendly and super quick . A real gem

We had a short amount of time between booking and taking our walking tour so we popped in here for coffee with scones and clotted cream. The scones were fine as was the cream but disappointed that the jam came in plastic packs rather than a pot like the cream. However, it all tasted fine. It was very busy and the counter where we sat had not been cleaned before we sat down.

My husband and I had breakfast here the first morning of our long weekend in Oxford. The breakfast was reasonably priced and tasty. There was plenty of choice on the menu, and we went for the May Day special which was generous in portion size with a variety of items. The black pudding and the mushrooms were very nice. Service was prompt and efficient and the cafe was clearly busy, but clean and friendly.

Don't overlook this stalwart of the covered Market. When all around is changing, this cafe goes on doing what you expect a cafe to do.

Our study abroad class had a one-day visit to Oxford. We stopped at the Covered Market for lunch and I was very happy I found Brown's Café. There are many options to choose from on the menu, but it isn't overwhelming. The staff was super friendly and attended us quickly.

Took my daughter for a trip around Oxford, remembered this cafe out of the way of crowds and the full English breakfast was amazing. Well done

The service sucks as well as food!

Very friendly staff, tasty and reasonably priced food. You will probably lay have to wait for a table as the cafe is very popular, but, worth a wait

A nice little old style cafe, simple tasty food. I really liked the old menu. Friendly without any fuss.

We wanted to try this historical restaurant, the food was surprisingly good, had baked veg pasta and lemon grilled chicken, the fries wete bit oily. Good service, we were going to counter to get our food but came to our table on raising our hand.

called in for sandwich ordered cheese ham and tomato baquette and tea.was just ok. didn't looked very appetising when presented strong tea

It is inside the covered market. It is a cafe, but it was clean, the service was efficient and the staff were friendly. The food was very tasty and came fairly quickly.

Coverd Marketの中でFish & Chipsといえば、こちらのレストランです。テイクアウトにも対応していて、テイクアウトをお願いしました。注文してから作るということで、店内の空いているテーブル席で待っていると、10分ほどで出てきました。フィッシュフライもポテトもどちらも絶品です。テイクアウトすると冷めてしまうので、次回は店内でアツアツをいただきたいです。（ちなみに冷めても、美味しかったです。）